Dutch households are spending more of their income on fixed costs, such as energy bills, health insurance, rent and mortgages increase, according to research by family spending institute Nibud.

Fixed costs now account for an extra 5% of spending compared with 10 years ago, before the financial crisis, Nibud said.

A household with an modal income of €2,252 per month is spending 55% of their net income on fixed costs, Nibud said. ‘This explains why so many people – almost 40% – have difficulty making ends meet,’ director Arjan Vliegenhart said in a statement.

‘Additional costs, such as higher health insurance premiums, result in financial stress,’ he said.

Home owners on higher incomes have slightly more to spend after deducting fixed costs because mortgage rates have gone down in the past few years. However, they  are still spending 45% of their income on essentials, which is up from 40% ten years ago.

Earlier Nibud research shows that the percentage of households which don’t always pay their rent or mortgage on time went up from 12% in 2012 to 19% in 2018.